


This Is How We Met

by broner



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, general silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2261877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broner/pseuds/broner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Um,” says a voice that is not Harry’s, coming from the mouth a guy who is really not Harry at all.</p><p>Niall’s hand freezes mid belly-scratch, “You’re not Harry.” In fact, taking a look around the unfamiliar kitchen, Niall realizes he’s not even in the right flat. Shit.</p><p>“No,” says the guy, “I’m not. Sorry?”</p><p> <br/>(the one where Niall accidentally breaks into Louis' flat)</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Is How We Met

**Author's Note:**

> you've probably seen the textpost but http://nlall.tumblr.com/post/85495926037/tickatocka-i-really-want-an-i-accidentally  
> anyways this fic is for Taylor who was awesome at encouraging me on this and awesome in general! thanks to her for looking it over for me, and thanks to Anna for the beta as well!!

“Fuckin’ Harry,” Niall mumbles as he fumbles around on the ground in the dark, searching for the edge of the doormat that he knows is here somewhere. He grins when he finds it, slipping his fingers under and finding the key Harry promised was there much quicker than he found the doormat. Niall stands up with minor difficulty, steadying himself against the door. He’s pretty smashed, but not enough for him to have trouble  jiggling the key into the lock and opening the door.

 He closes the door and goes to drop the spare key onto the little table Harry keeps by the door, but hears it clatter to the floor. Maybe the combination of pints and darkness isn’t the greatest for Niall’s coordination. Niall makes a mental note to remember where the key is in the morning, but runs into a couch he swears is supposed to be a foot ahead of him still. Swearing under his breath, Niall flumps down on to the couch and burrows in for the night.

 Right as he’s about to drift off, a soft groan floats in from down the hall. If Niall was more awake, he’d be freaked out, but for now he resolves to tell Harry his flat is probably haunted next time he sees him, and passes right out.

 

***

After acknowledging his slight headache, the first thing Niall notices when he wakes up is that he seems to have lost one of his socks during the night. The second thing is the unmistakable scent of bacon being cooked. Niall grins, he fucking loves Harry.

 “You trying to make up for ditching me last night by cooking breakfast, Harry?” he laughs, walking into the kitchen, scratching his stomach idly.

 “Um,” says a voice that is not Harry’s, coming from the mouth a guy who is really not Harry at all.

 Niall’s hand freezes mid belly-scratch, “You’re not Harry.” In fact, taking a look around the unfamiliar kitchen, Niall realizes he’s not even in the right flat. Shit.

 “No,” says the guy, “I’m not. Sorry?”

 “Shit mate, I think I might’ve broken into your flat a bit?” Niall looks at the size of the tall, muscled guy whose home he kind of broke into and backtracks, “I mean, not on purpose! I swear to god I thought I was letting myself into my best mate’s apartment last night.”

 The guy looks (understandably) bewildered. “Um, right. I’m going to wake up my flatmate so we can talk about this. Er, do you want breakfast?”

 Niall is sitting at a table in a flat he sort of broke into, eating bacon cooked by a guy he doesn’t know (his name is Liam, he said) offered to him. It’s safe to say Niall’s never had a morning quite like this, but he figures if he had to drunkenly fall asleep in the wrong flat, he’s lucky to have picked the one with nice bacon-making people living in it. He shoots off a quick text to Harry to inform him of his whereabouts before he forgets and ends up lost for longer than necessary.

 

******

 

“Louis, we have a problem.”

 Louis groans from underneath his blanket cocoon. He’s not sure what Liam is doing in his room but he knows it’s Saturday in the summer, which means he doesn’t have class and he doesn’t have work. More importantly, Liam should not be in his room before noon.

 "Can the problem wait a couple hours?"

 "The problem is eating your share of the bacon, so you tell me," Liam says, ripping the covers off of Louis and leaving the room.

 "What the fuck, Liam? Have you adopted a dog?" Louis scrambles out of bed and grabs the first pair of sweats he finds on his floor, hopping haphazardly into them on his way to the kitchen. He’s not sure why Liam would have adopted a dog and even less sure why Liam would be feeding their new dog Louis’ bacon.

 “I swear to god, Liam, if this dog isn’t house trained we’re gonna have bigger problems than- oh.” There’s a blond guy sitting at their table, eating Louis’ bacon. A blond guy eating Louis’ bacon who Louis doesn’t know but is definitely not a dog. “You’re not a dog,” Louis says dumbly, he’s not overly articulate before breakfast.

 “No,” says the intruder pleasantly, “I am house trained, though.”

 Louis fights back a smile, narrowing his eyes to point out, “You are eating my bacon, though. That’s nearly as rude as pissing on a stranger’s floor.”

 The stranger looks a little sheepish, but doesn’t have a chance to defend himself before Liam, who’s been watching nervously from beside the fridge, interrupts, “Um. This guy-”

 “Niall,” says Niall helpfully.

 “Right,” Liam continues, “Niall has kind of sort of broken into our flat?”

 Louis stares, baffled, “And you thought feeding a criminal my breakfast was the best course of action?”

 “‘M not a criminal,” Niall the possible criminal protests, setting down the knife he was buttering his toast with (really, Liam? Toast? For an intruder? They’re going to have words.).

 Louis crosses his arms. “Well we certainly didn’t invite you in here, so.”

 “Don’t be rude, Lou,” Liam hisses, as if there’s some sort of etiquette for when a stranger is eating breakfast in your flat that Louis is unaware of.

 “Look lads, I swear I thought this was Harry’s place when I was letting myself in last night.”

 “Wait, Headscarf Harry from next door?” Louis asks.

 Niall’s face lights up, “That’s the one!”

 “Okay, but how did you get in here?” Liam asks, which is probably more important to focus on than their fancifully dressed neighbour.

 Niall shrugs. “I guess keeping a spare key under your doormat is a pretty common thing. Harry keeps a key under his mat and I was pretty drunk, didn’t notice I had the wrong place until I saw Liam this morning.”

 There’s a frantic knock on the door, which Liam goes to answer while Louis watches Niall. Sure, he doesn’t look like a criminal, and his story seems plausible, but you can never be too careful. As it turns out, it’s not even Niall that Louis needs to be worried about, it’s the gangly guy who rushes into the kitchen ahead of a bewildered Liam. Louis and Liam’s flat has never been so lively before lunch.

 “I am so so incredibly sorry,” says Headscarf Harry, “He’s never done this before on my watch.”

 Niall makes a face like a disgruntled rabbit, “You’re not my keeper, Harry.”

 “Maybe he should be,” Liam interjects mildly, “he could keep you from wandering into other people’s homes.”

 Niall turns pink and Harry apologizes profusely again, but not before eyeing up Niall’s toast.

 “Did you want breakfast as well, then?” Liam asks politely, apparently taking on a new role as Feeder of Strangers.

 Harry’s face lights up, “Do you have any fruit?”

 That’s the story of how Louis finds himself sitting at his kitchen table watching two strangers eat his food. Well, maybe the orange Harry is efficiently peeling wasn’t his, but the bacon Liam is continuing to cook up for Niall and Harry definitely was.

 "Thanks so much Liam, you’re a great neighbour,” Harry smiles.

 “Not a problem, mate. Louis and I’ve just been calling you Headscarf Harry for ages now, good to finally meet the man behind the nickname.”

 Harry laughs. “I haven’t been calling you guys anything, but I suppose I’ll have to come up with something now that you’ve returned Niall to me and made me breakfast.”

 “I don’t need to be returned, I could’ve found my own way back,” Niall protests.

 “Your track record doesn’t seem to be in your favour, mate,” Louis points out with a grin.

 Niall laughs, and holds his hands up in surrender, “This is my first experience with waking up in a stranger’s home uninvited, swear on my life.”

 “Strangers?” Louis gasps, mock offended with a hand over his heart, “Niall, my flatmate cooked you breakfast. You ate my bacon. We’re past strangers now.”

 Niall laughs again, it seems to be a full body effort; his eyes and nose scrunch up cutely, he crouches in on himself, and his hands come up to his face. “Alright, guess we’re friends now, yeah?”

 Louis grins at him in answer, a light, happy feeling dancing around in his stomach.

 Harry clears his throat, “Do you have anything you’d like to say to our new friends before we go, Niall?”

 Niall rubs at the back of his neck, “I really am sorry for breaking in. Thanks for not, like, pepper spraying me or something.” Harry gives Niall a look like yes, and? “And, thanks for the breakfast as well.”

 Harry sighs, “Niall would love to give you his number so he could get you guys lunch one day to make up for him breaking into your home and for us eating your food.”

 Louis snorts, looking at Niall who is rolling his eyes but a little pink in the face nonetheless. “Would Niall love that?”

 Niall smirks, reaching for the pen and paper Liam hands him. “Yes, Niall would love to take you out for lunch.”

 After parting ways more amicably than Louis ever imagined his first victim of a crime experience would end, they catch a snippet of conversation as Harry and Niall leave their flat.

 “You’re so embarrassing Nialler, I can’t believe this is how I officially met my neighbours.”

 “I’m embarrassing? Look what you’ve got on your head, mate.”

 Harry shuts the door behind them, and Liam hands Louis the paper with Niall’s number on it.

 “So,” he grins, “You reckon he was asking both of us to lunch, or just you?”

 Louis snorts. “Both of us, obviously.”

 “Obviously,” Liam says with a look on his face like that wasn’t obvious at all. Liam’s the worst. “We should probably move our key,” Liam muses, scrunching his eyebrows together. “The next person who breaks in might not be so nice.”

 Louis rolls his eyes. “Well maybe if you didn’t offer criminals breakfast we wouldn’t have to worry so much about people wanting to break in.”

 “Shove off, Lou. Niall was nice! Too cute to be a real criminal, don’t you think?” Liam asks slyly.

 “Clearly you haven’t watched enough crime shows, it’s always the cute one,” Louis grumbles, feeling his face heat up. He stares down at the number scrawled out on the page; it’s followed by a little happy face. Louis has never found a smiley face so endearing before.

 

***

Sent to Niall Break in guy:

i think you owe me a meal for eating my breakfast after you broke into my flat the other day . this is louis btw

 

Sent from Niall Break in guy:

haha ! i know mate i dont break into enough places to have forgotten ya !

 

Sent to Niall Break in guy:

but you do break into some places?

 

Sent from Niall Break in guy:

swear t god yours was the first

 

Sent to Niall Break in guy:

aw thats dead romantic

 

Sent from Niall Break in guy:

hahahaha !!

what are ya doin now?

 

Sent to Niall Break in guy:

beating liam at FIFA

but thats not hard work so nothing really

 

Sent from Niall Break in guy

haha!! did u guys wanna cash in your free meal now if your not busy ?

 

Sent to Niall Break in guy

sure bro ! give me a time and place and we’ll meet you there

 

***

 

“Liam, we’re going out,” Louis announces, setting his controller down.

 “You’re not crashing my date with Sophia again, Lou.”

 “What? No. Niall’s taking us for lunch, idiot.” Liam’s always talking such nonsense.

 “No,” Liam says slowly, like Louis’ the one who’s missing the point. “I’ve got lunch plans with Sophia today, you knew that.”

 “Clearly I didn’t, Liam! I’ve just gone and told Niall we’ll go for lunch with him now, you’ve messed it all up,” Louis huffs.

 Liam sighs, “Can you reschedule with Niall?”

 “Absolutely not, he’s already on his way to the restaurant. Where are your manners, Liam?” Alright, so Louis figures he could probably reschedule, but Niall really is already on his way over and he would feeling bad standing him up. Niall doesn’t seem like the type to be fussed, but Louis doesn’t want to be the type to stand somebody up. To leave a friend hanging.

 Liam seems to realize this, knowing Louis as well as he does, so he just shakes his head. “Fine, tell Niall I said hello.”

 “Cheers Liam,” Louis grins, pulling on his shoes. “Tell your girlfriend I said she’s too good for you, and also hello.”

 “Yeah, yeah. Have fun on your date, arsehole.”

 Louis frowns at Liam. “It’s not a date, you were supposed to come! That’s not a date!”

 

***

 Niall is sitting at a table with a window, staring out of it and drumming absent mindedly on the table with his hands. Louis smiles at the sight of him and plops down in the seat across from him.

 Niall’s face lights up. “Louis! Good t’ see you, mate.” He looks around confused for a moment, and Louis curses himself for thinking this wouldn’t be weird. “Where’s Liam?”

 Louis’ stomach lurches uncomfortably. Maybe going for lunch with Niall alone wasn’t a good idea after all. He should’ve just cancelled and met up with Niall another time when Liam could come along.

 “Liam couldn’t make it,” Louis explains, trying not to sound as put out as he feels. “He had a date today and didn’t tell me about it before we made plans. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but we could always do this some other time.”

 Niall shakes his head. “Nah, mate. we’re already here, yeah? We’ll just have to have a really good time so you can make Liam jealous when you tell him about it later.”

 Louis grins, feeling better about the situation already. “It’s like you can read my mind.”

 Lunch with Niall is exactly the opposite of the awkward meal Louis had nervously imagined on the way over. Niall is friendly and easy to talk to, Louis feels a bit like they’ve been mates for ages. Louis tells stories about the dumb things he and Liam have gotten up to over the years, taking pride in the laughs their adventures draw out of Niall. In exchange, Niall talks about the small gigs he and Harry play at bars sometimes (“We’re kind of a band, but we don’t have a name because Harry only likes stupid names.”), and the memorable occasion they played at the christening of Niall’s nephew.

 The pair have progressed to trying to steal chips off the other’s plate by the time they discover they’ve had a mutual friend this whole time. As it turns out, Niall’s flatmate Zayn is a friend of Liam’s from the coffee shop they work at.

 “You’re kidding me, “ Louis says, genuinely shocked while deftly snatching a chip off Niall’s plate. “Liam talks about Zayn all the bloody time.”

 “Zayn’s gonna laugh about this when he gets back from vacation. Can’t believe I ended up on the couch of Zayn’s comic book buddy.”

 Louis laughs, thinking about all the times Liam’s gone on about how cool Zayn is and how they should totally invite him over to watch Iron Man sometime. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t end up sleeping on my couch earlier than this, mate.”

 Niall laughs, loud and bright, and he grins widely at Louis. Louis can’t help but smile back.

 Their conversation - as conversations with Louis tend to do - turns to football. Niall’s been professing his undying love for Derby County while Louis tries to explain his deep bond with his hometown club. It’s nice to talk football with someone who’s as passionate about it as Louis is, though Niall seems to be passionate about a lot of things. Niall would be an excellent lad to watch a match with, Louis thinks.

 “Are you doing anything this afternoon?” Niall asks suddenly.

 “Got nothing planned, why?”

 Niall grins, “I’ve got a ball in the back of my car if you wanted to go to the park and kick it around for a bit?”

 “You’re a man after my own heart, Niall.”

***

 

Louis pushes his now slightly damp fringe out of his eyes, narrowing them at Niall. Niall isn't as competitive as either Louis or Liam is - so their friendly little game hasn't gotten as intense as when Louis plays Liam - but that's not to say Niall isn’t any good. Quite the opposite, actually. In fact, Louis is now almost positive Niall had been trying to lull him into a false sense of security when he bounced the ball off his knee right into his face when they arrived.

 If that was indeed Niall’s sinister plan, it definitely worked. He had recovered quickly and kicked the ball right past Louis, who was doubled over with laughter, in between the small tree and the rubbish bin which had been deemed Louis’ goal posts. After that incident, Louis had not underestimated the bloke. Niall was quick and his little twig legs could put a surprising amount of power into a kick.

 They’d been playing for a while now, managing to only kick the ball into an innocent park goer once - an incident which Niall’s honest smile and twinkly blue eyes were surely involved in getting them out of without much trouble - and Louis is genuinely having a great time. He’s sure that he’s in the lead now, but the smirk on Niall’s face when Louis tells him so makes Louis think Niall doesn’t agree.

 Determined to be the winner of their completely friendly, totally not competitive match, Louis takes off at a sprint with the ball, blowing right past Niall. He can tell he caught Niall off guard, Louis grins victoriously as he passes Niall. However, when he looks back to see how far behind his opponent is, the smile slides right off his face.

 “Alright mate?” he calls worriedly, hurrying back over to where Niall is slumped down on the ground holding his knee.

 “Yeah, Lou. My knee’s just giving me a spot of trouble.” He grimaces, “I had surgery on it a few months back.”

 “Jesus, Niall. You should’ve said something so we wouldn’t have gone so hard.”

 Niall’s face clouds over. “I’m fine. I can go as hard as I want.”

 Louis sits down on the ground beside him gingerly. “Think I might wanna see a doctor’s note before I believe that.”

 Niall looks ready to snap at him before he sees the teasing smile on Louis’ face and his expression settles back on just grumpy. “I just turned a bit funny, that’s all. I’ve been healed up for ages, I’m sick of being babied by everyone because of it. I’m fine,” he says stubbornly.

 Louis wraps an arm around Niall gently, “Your mates don’t want you to get hurt, is all.”

 “I’m not hurt,” Niall grumbles, but he looks marginally less petulant.

 Louis pokes Niall in the knee, “Are you hurt now?”

 This seems to surprise a laugh out of Niall. “Well it hurts if you’re trying to hurt me, twat.”

 Louis leans towards Niall just a little and asks, “Should I kiss it better for you, then?” and it comes out more serious than Louis thought he had meant it.

 Niall’s eyes search Louis’ face for a moment before he says, “Maybe you should.” and tilts his head up, like a challenge. And well, Louis never says no to a challenge.

 Louis is sitting on the ground in a public park kissing a boy. Kissing Niall. Niall’s lips are warm and a bit chapped, but Louis forgets to notice that so much when Niall threads his fingers into Louis’ hair. They kiss for what is almost definitely too long to be decent in a public park, but Louis doesn’t really mind.

 When he pulls back to breathe, he laughs softly, “I told Liam this wasn’t a date.”

 Niall grins, big and bright, and he leans in again, “Rude of you to lie to a mate like that.”

 Liam’s going to take the piss out of him when he gets home, but for now Louis is quite content sitting on the ground being slightly indecent in a park with Niall.

 

***

A few weeks later, all five boys (having now been officially introduced) are sat in front of the telly in Louis and Liam’s flat, engaged in an intense Mario Kart battle. Only three of them are playing now, but it’s still very serious.

 Louis, the regular Mario Kart champion, has been sat pouting on the couch because Liam is first player and he kept picking the only course Louis is awful at, treatment which Louis obviously cannot stand for, so he gave up his controller to Zayn. The battery died promptly after he did so, but it’s the thought that counts, really.

 Zayn is tossing crisps at Louis now, so he can work on catching them in his mouth. He’s doing pretty well until Niall yells, “Suck my dick, Harry! Red shell!” and Harry howls angrily, throwing Louis off his game. The crisp bounces off his chin and when Louis turns to scowl at Harry for interrupting his focus, he notices that Niall is currently in first place on Rainbow Road. Louis is honestly quite impressed, and when he tells Niall this he grins and tells Louis he takes Mario too seriously, which is quite rich considering the loud curses he spews when he sees Liam send out a blue shell.

 Niall has established a clear lead, so Louis announces that he is firmly Team Niall now. Niall’s smile threatens to crack his face in two, and Liam gives Louis a look that says everyone already knew what team Louis was on. That would be a fair statement to make, as Louis can’t think of anyone’s side he’d rather be on. Things with Niall are always fun, and being with Niall is great, Niall makes everything feel so natural and easy. Every joke Louis tells seems funnier when Niall is there to laugh at it, every song more fun to sing along to, and every moment that much more enjoyable.

 The best part about Niall is that Louis doesn’t have to embarrass himself by saying anything out loud. All they really need is a nice cuddle, or even a fistbump to communicate what they want to say. Niall gets him.

 

***

Louis’ never been great at sleeping alone, so the soft creak of his bed is enough to wake Louis up from his light sleep. He feels a warm body slip under the cover beside him and he smiles, he’s been waiting all week for this.

 “You’ve got to stop breaking into my house, mate,” he murmurs sleepily. “It’s a nasty habit to get into.” Niall’s been gone for a week, visiting home, and Louis can’t say he minds Niall slipping into his bed, but he really did miss teasing Niall in person.

 “Ah, fuck off. You know I have a key now,” Niall says, wrapping an arm around Louis.

 “Completely Liam’s fault,” Louis insists, twisting around to smirk at Niall.

 “Maybe I should go sleep in Liam’s bed, then.”

 Louis snuggles into Niall’s chest. “Mmm yeah, then I could have the bed to myself.”

 “I’ll just go tell Liam how much I missed him, then shall I?” Louis can hear the laugh in Niall’s voice and he feels a bit lighter inside.

 “He’d like that, I’m sure,” Louis says, tracing a pattern on Niall’s stomach.

 Niall moves to get up, “I’ll just suck Liam’s dick as well, then? Gotta thank him for that key.”

 “Liam gave you the key? No, no no. That was all my idea.” Louis tugs Niall back down by the wrist. Niall laughs, his eyes lighting up in a way that makes Louis’ stomach squirm pleasantly. “It was all me.” Niall laughs again, Louis can feel it in Niall’s chest more than he can hear it, and everything slides back into place. “Missed you, too.”

  



End file.
